In 2004 Watabe and Kaesler published a paper on a new species of the ostracode genus Paraparchites from the Lower Permian of Kansas and named it Paraparchites punctatus. Thereby they failed to notice that already in 1936 a Paraparchites punctatus had been described by Harris and Worrell from the Lower Permian of Oklahoma.

We examine the morphological variation of a Paleozoic pterineid during a time of relative ecological and taxonomic stability in the Middle Devonian Appalachian Basin in central and eastern New York. We discuss the taxonomic status of the Middle Devonian bivalve Actinopteria boydi (Conrad, 1842) and quantify the variability of its shell disk as well as the width and angle of the auricles and sulci of this otherwise character-poor bivalve species using geometric morphometric techniques employing Cartesian landmarks. We compare variants from three stratigraphic levels (Skaneateles, Ludlowville, and Moscow formations) and from different habitats characterized by lithofacies.

The phenotypic variation observed in our data does not amount to an overall directional shift in morphology, i.e., they constitute reversible changes of morphology in a single variable taxon. Our study finds small-scale variation in morphology that represents evidence for ecophenotypic variation through ~3–4 Myr. Differences in substrate coupled with water energy seem to impact this taxon’s morphology. Although no clearly separated groups can be observed, material from muddy facies develops variants with, on average, rounder and broader shell disks than are found in material from silty facies. This morphology could have increased the flow rate of water channeled over the posterior shell portion thereby improving filtration rate, which is especially beneficial in environments with low water energy.

Tang et al. (2019) described new specimens of carbonaceous compression fossils from the early Cambrian Hetang Formation in South China, for which they established the new taxon Cambrowania ovata Tang and Xiao in Tang et al., 2019. Tang et al. (2019) interpreted these fossils as the remains of metazoans, representing either the carapaces of bivalve arthropods, or early life-cycle stages of sponges. We contest the animal affinity of these fossils; instead, we propose that the specimens described as Cambrowania ovata are actually large Leiosphaeridia—in other words, collapsed hollow organic spheroidal acritarchs. The features described by Tang et al. (2019) all fall into the morphology of carbonaceous compressions of Leiosphaeridia with pyritized/baritized folds and compaction wrinkles. Such Leiosphaeridia are a common component of Cambrian (and older) siliciclastic deposits, and frequently exhibit such a pattern of pyritization, baritization, and encrustation with other diagenetic minerals.

Lidaconus palmettoensis n. gen. and sp. is a recently discovered fossil from the Lower Cambrian Harkless Formation (Bonnia–Olenellus Zone) in Esmeralda County, Nevada. The conoidal fossils were originally calcareous and have been replaced by silica. The cones are distinctive in their consistent morphology, the presence of weak annulations, and the lack of any internal structures such as septa, tabulae, or dissepiments. Because of the paucity of diagnostic characters due to the simple morphology and the lack of original microstructure, taxonomic affinities are uncertain.

The new flexible crinoid Para clidochirus n. gen. is described, with P. keyserensis (Springer, 1920) as the type species. A new species, P. schultzi, is described from the Late Devonian of Idaho.

The Pratt Ferry beds are a three meter thick bioclastic carbonate unit containing the Pygodus serrus–P. anserinus conodont zone boundary and lying just below the Nemagraptus gracilis graptolite zone at a single locality in Alabama. Telephina Marek at Pratt Ferry and other eastern North American localities is represented by at least six species. These are judged widespread and in part conspecific with Scandinavian or Asian forms of similar age. Most of the fifteen Appalachian telephinid species proposed by Ulrich (1930) are reviewed and some synonymized. Bevanopsis Cooper is present, extending its stratigraphic range via B. buttsi (Cooper). The original description of Ceraurinella buttsi Cooper is augmented. Other recorded but poorly represented genera include Ampyxina, Arthrorhachis, Calyptaulax, Hibbertia, Lonchodomas, Mesotaphraspis, Porterfieldia, and Sphaerexochus. The entire faunule represents a mixture of ‘inshore’ and ‘offshore’ or planktonic faunal elements rarely seen elsewhere in the latest Middle Ordovician (Darriwilian) of eastern North America.

The Antiklinalbugt Formation of northeast Greenland comprises peritidal to subtidal carbonate sediments, deposited in shallow shelf settings during an early Tremadocian transgressive-regressive megacycle. The succession of shales and microbial, muddy and grainy limestone, with minor dolostone at the base and top, terminates at the cryptic Fimbulfjeld disconformity. The formation has yielded trilobites collected on Ella Ø, Albert Heim Bjerge, and Kap Weber by C. Poulsen (1920s and 1930s), J. W. Cowie and P. J. Adams (1950s), and during recent field studies in 2000 and 2001. The fauna includes dimeropygids Tulepyge cowiei and T. tesella n. spp., hystricurids Millardicurus and Hystricurus, and several species of Symphysurina. Micragnostus chiushuensis (Kobayashi, 1931) is rare, as are Chasbellus sp., Clelandia sp., and Lunacrania?. The presence of several Symphysurina species places the Antiklinalbugt Formation within the Symphysurina Zone. Chasbellus indicates the upper (lower Ordovician) part of the Symphysurina Zone for the lower upper Antiklinalbugt Formation. Conodonts place the middle lower formation in the Cordylodus intermedius conodont Biozone, the lower upper part in the Cordylodus angulatus conodont Biozone and the uppermost part in the Rossodus manitouensis conodont Biozone. This combined fauna is characteristic of the upper Skullrockian Stage of the Ibexian Series, with the lower part of the Antiklinalbugt Formation lying within the uppermost Cambrian of North America, and the upper part within the lower Ordovician. The entire formation lies within the global Tremadocian Stage of the early Ordovician.

Disarticulated elements from three individuals of Mammuthus cf. M. columbi (Falconer) and one individual of Bison cf. B. latifrons (Harlan) were recovered from an excavation in gravelly, sandy clay of the Colma Formation at the southeast base of Telegraph Hill, San Francisco, California. This is the most abundant collection of late Pleistocene terrestrial vertebrates reported from San Francisco, and only the fourth record from excavations in the city proper. The Mammuthus-Bison association indicates a Rancholabrean age, and elements of these two taxa from this site have been radiocarbon dated at 25,380 ± 1,100 years B.P. Geologic setting, lithology, associated diatoms and pollen, and preservation of the bones suggest that these animals were buried rapidly in a boggy environment on the west margin of the broad valley now occupied by San Francisco Bay.

Silicified and well-preserved specimens of the new orchocladine anthaspidellid genus and species, Virgaspongia ichnata, the rhizomorine haplistiid, Haplistion sphaericum Finks, 1960, and various root tufts, and the new hexactinellid species Steioderma hadra are reported from the Brentwood Member of the Morrowan Bloyd Formation from the Sulphur City quadrangle, in the Ozark Mountains of northwestern Arkansas. Virgaspongia is a subcylindrical branched or unbranched sponge that lacks a spongocoel and has a dendroclone-based skeleton in which trabs diverge upward and outward from an axial region. It is abundant here but is one of only a few anthaspidellid genera known from the Pennsylvanian. This is the first record of Haplistion from Pennsylvanian rocks of Arkansas, although the genus is widespread in upper Paleozoic rocks. The new hexactinellid species, Stioderma hadra, also documents the first occurrence of that genus from Arkansas and in Morrowan rocks. Only fragments were recovered but the swollen grotesque spicules, of several sizes, that make the fused dermal layer and outer sponge wall are distinctive, particularly where combined with an inner layer(?) or root tuft of monaxons of various sizes. Two different root tufts and one demosponge wall fragment(?) also occur in the collection.

The collections of A. E. Reuss were missing for a long period of time. When they were rediscovered they were stored in the Museum of Natural History in Vienna. The associated catalog is still missing. Since many of the Cretaceous foraminifers described by Reuss are assumed to be widespread around the world, it is desirable to have his original material as a reference when classifying the specimens found in drillings and natural exposures. As quite a lot of them are usable as index fossils, they are of special value in the exploration for oil and gas.

Paleontologists have long speculated that the bizarre, giant Ordovician gastropods Maclurites Le Sueur, 1818 and Maclurina Ulrich and Scofield, 1897 lived more like suspension-feeding oysters than typical algivorous snails. Geometric and eigenshape morphometrics demonstrate the plausibility of this lifestyle, but with a twist. The apertures of these gastropods were small ellipsoids when young, transitioning rapidly to polygonal morphologies at maturity, with angulations (sinuses) occurring in regions associated with development of mature ctenidia (gills) and enhanced stability on the seafloor. Combined with knowledge of extant suspension-feeding gastropods and functional and phylogenetic analysis of the anatomy of other fossil relatives, this ontogenetic pattern suggests these snails began life as typical mobile algae-grazers, but switched to sedentary suspension-feeders as they aged.

Three genera of gastropods described from the Lower Devonian Rockhouse Formation of Hardin County, Tennessee, currently are considered to be junior subjective synonyms of Platyceras (Visitator) Perner, 1911. Evaluation of the type specimens of these genera as well as types of two other gastropods from the same formation reveals the following: Platyostoma quadrangulare (Dunbar, 1920) is the only platyceratid gastropod among them; Saffordella tennessensis Dunbar, 1920 has a selenizone above midwhorl so it is an eotomarioidean belonging to the Gosseletinidae; Aulopea nelsoni Dunbar, 1920 and the lectotype of Distemnostoma princeps Dunbar, 1920 each has a broad subsutural sinus on the upper whorl surface similar to the Omphalotrochidae, as well as a basal sinus similar to certain primitive caenogastropods, so their systematic position is uncertain; I consider Holopea planidorsata Dunbar, 1920 to be a juvenile specimen of D. princeps; the fragmentary paralectotype of D. princeps possibly represents a gerontic form of Distemnostoma curtum Dunbar, 1920, which possesses a well-developed selenizone on an upwardly projecting shoulder at the edge of the upper whorl surface. Because D. curtum appears to be unrelated to D. princeps, the genotype of Distemnostoma, I propose the new generic name Omocordella for D. curtum. The new family Micromphalidae is erected to include Ordovician Slehoferia Rohr and Fryda, 2001, lower Carboniferous Micromphalus Knight, 1945, and Omocordella n. gen.

Several Jurassic pterioid bivalve species have been referred to Parainoceramus Cox by different authors, yet this has proved inadequate because the meaning of such genus has been compounded by nomenclatural and idiomatic problems, as well as misinterpretations. Hence, the new genus Parainoceramya is here proposed to accommodate several species previously referred to Parainoceramus, with Crenatula ventricosa J. de C. Sowerby as its type. Permian species originally assigned to Parainoceramus, including the type species, are referred to the genus Kolymia Likharev. All species attributed to Parainoceramus s.l. are reviewed and the new genus is compared with related genera. As here understood, the new genus is first recorded in the Hettangian and attained a cosmopolitan distribution; its last occurrence is probably Berriasian.

Kerguelen Islands are predominantly volcanic lands, thus fossil references are very uncommon. However, its Miocene fossils are of specific interest for understanding migration routes of some taxa during the Cenozoic, given the intermediary position of Kerguelen with various continents. Despite this fossil rarity, we studied herein hundreds of nodules corresponding to the sole known fossil brachyurans (and unique Decapoda) from Kerguelen both for their systematics and their preservation. Indeed, these crabs display some internal fragile structures that are rarely fossilized, such as the gills’ branchial lamellae, preserved in volume. The preservation of these gills and their diagenetic features were documented through traditional imagery (SEM), including morphological comparison to modern gills, and with petrographic and geochemical analyses (EDS, X-ray diffractometry). Some cheilostome bryozoans were observed as probable foulers of the crabs carcasses. The fossil material corresponds to a new cancrid crab (Romaleon franciscae n. sp.) and its occurrence may imply a novel route from South America westward for the geographic migration of the genus Romaleon, since its Cretaceous emergence. The cup-shape and the number and the organization of the gills in these fossil Cancridae specimens are similar to those observed in their extant representatives. Gill preservation in 3D is linked to very early phosphatization of the system during diagenesis, as shown by the nodule matrix, and likely to deposition of a thin clayey cover on the soft-tissues. The implication of intrinsic phosphorous in the differential phosphatization of the crabs’ anatomy remains difficult to determine.

The early geologic history of family Pinnidae, a diverse and abundant component of mud-dominated shallow marine environments of the late Paleozoic, is obscured by ill-defined genus and species concepts. Mistakes in descriptions and reconstructions have provided a basis for suggestions that older taxa in the family differ from younger taxa and may not belong in family Pinnidae. This report provides improved documentation that removes the basis for the concept of divergence. Late Paleozoic genera and species have definite pinnid bivalve characters, including a dorsomarginal fold that holds the ligament, a thick outer columnar prismatic shell layer, and an equivalved, triangular shell, all of which provide evidence for confident assignment of the genus to family Pinnidae. The suggested synonymy of Aviculopinna with Pteronites is invalid, and genus Aviculopinna is limited to occurrence in Permian strata. The two genera belong in different families. A neotype is designated for genus Aviculopinna type species Aviculopinna pinnaeformis Geinitz from Gera, Germany, and a lectotype for Aviculopinna neukirchensis Langenhan from Nowy Kościół, Poland. Inferences on the life habits of Aviculopinna based on its occurrence in Poland are presented. An evaluation of the subterminal beak versus terminal beak concept in pinnids is presented and conclusion presented that there are few data available to support the concept or to test it. In its present form, the concept has no utility in the study of pinnid bivalves.

The early Miocene site of Wadi Moghra, Qattara Depression, Egypt, is important for interpreting anthracothere (Mammalia, Artiodactyla) evolution, because the Moghra sediments preserve a higher diversity of anthracotheres than any other pene-contemporaneous site. New specimens from Moghra are described and form the basis for the systematic revision of Moghra anthracotheres provided here. Among the important discoveries recently made at Moghra is the first complete skull of Sivameryx moneyi. Other new specimens described here include two new species of Afromeryx, and a new genus and species, all of which are unique to Moghra. A review of biogeographic information supports the conclusion that three of the Moghra anthracotheres (Brachyodus depereti, B. mogharensis, and Jaggermeryx naida, n. gen. n. sp.) are members of late surviving lineages with a long history in Africa, while three other species (Afromeryx grex, n. sp., A. palustris, n. sp., and Sivameryx moneyi) represent more recent immigrants from Eurasia.

Monograptus crinitus Wood is made the type species of a new genus, Crinitograptus; a slender, nilssoni Biozone, Ludlow graptolite typified by unusual lidded thecae. Chemically isolated material from North Germany, previously placed in the genera Barrandeograptus and Pomatograptus are placed in synonymy with C. crinitus, a rare, but relatively widely recorded form. Crinitograptus crinitus is an integral part of the globally recognized Ludlow burst of evolution in the graptoloids, and it probably evolved from a nilssoni Biozone lobograptid.

Saetaspongia so far cannot be confidently assigned to any class-level crown group. Clarifying its phylogenetic position requires new information provided by more detailed studies of previously described and/or new material. Some sponge fossils with the typical skeletal architecture of Saetaspongia have recently been recognized in the Cambrian (Stage 4) Balang Biota of Guizhou, China, including S. jianhensis new species and S. cf. S. densa. The new taxon is characterized by the following features: spicules are fine monaxons and are inclined to be loosely to densely arranged into plumose arrays; skeleton is composed primarily of one major plumose bundle, with an uncertain number (perhaps two) of small plumose arrays; and primary skeleton is occasionally interspersed with some irregularly oriented individual spicules. An additional specimen consisting of large monaxons, with plumose structures and overlying irregular coarse monaxons, closely fits the description and illustrations of previously described S. cf. S. densa. By combining information from previous studies and the present research, fossil evidence indicates that the plumose architecture is a critical feature diagnostic of Saetaspongia and that there are no hexactine-based spicules in this genus. The new material from the Balang Biota further supports the notion that Saetaspongia has a protomonaxonid rather than a hexactinellid affinity. Fossil evidence suggests that Saetaspongia had a wide biogeographic distribution during the early Cambrian and the stratigraphic distribution of this genus extends up to Stage 4.

UUID: http://zoobank.org/e9ca5e4a-134c-4daa-9266-19085e32614f.

A large assemblage of small specimens of Tridactylastacus sinensis Feldmann, Schweitzer, and Zhang in Feldmann et al., 2012, from the Middle Triassic (Anisian) Luoping Biota, Yunnan Province, China, permitted cladistic analysis confirming their placement within Litogastridae in the superfamily Glypheoidea. Orientation of 86 specimens closely spaced on a single slab from one bedding surface revealed a preferred orientation suggestive of mild current activity. The specimens were interpreted to have been victims of a mass kill, possibly an algal bloom, within the water column.

The coral fauna of the Upper Mississippian (Chesterian) Pitkin Formation was described by Easton (1943) and, more recently, by Webb (1987), who defined two coral faunules. The lower faunule occurs throughout the Pitkin outcrop belt from northeastern Oklahoma to north-central Arkansas. The upper faunule has been recognized only in north-central Arkansas where a higher part of the Pitkin is preserved. Equivalent strata have apparently been removed to the west by the pre-Pennsylvanian regional unconformity that differentially truncates Chesterian strata across the Ozark uplift. Thus the upper faunule is less well known than the lower faunule. The purpose of this note is to describe a new tabulate coral from the upper faunule in Searcy County, Arkansas.